Protenergy to add up to 100 jobs on Eastern Shore by April, state says

Protenergy Natural Foods Corp. expects to add as many as 100 workers to its Eastern Shore operations by next spring, the state announced Tuesday.

The Canadian food processing company, which currently employs 53 in Cambridge, is ramping up faster than originally anticipated. When it opened the site a year ago as its U.S. headquarters, Protenergy told the state that it expected to have 100 employees by 2016.

As part of the expansion, the company purchased the 67-acre site it had been leasing. The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development said it assisted with a $250,000 loan and a state-backed loan guarantee on bank financing of $3.6 million.

Protenergy told the state that demand for the soups, broths and sauces made in Cambridge prompted the expansion. It expects an additional, smaller increase in jobs at the site after the upcoming hiring spree, bringing total employment to 180 by 2017, the economic development agency said.